BUSH'S IMMIGRATION PLAN LAUDED, OPPOSED

Gustavo Bueno happily put aside his paintbrush to discuss the prospect of working legally, driving legally and having the freedom to visit his native Uruguay.

"I'm very happy with the news," said Bueno, of Oakland Park, about President Bush's proposal on Wednesday for what could become the farthest-reaching immigration reform since a 1986 amnesty. "It's a step in our favor, we have to start somewhere."

Under Bush's proposal, undocumented immigrants employed in this country and foreigners abroad with job offers could secure documents to work and live in the United States legally for three years. The temporary legal status would be renewable, not indefinite, and would not put applicants on a path for permanent residency, Bush said.

"As a nation that values immigration, and depends on immigration, we should have immigration laws that work and make us proud," Bush said. "Yet today we do not. Instead, we see many employers turning to the illegal labor market. We see millions of hard-working men and women condemned to fear and insecurity in a massive, undocumented economy. Illegal entry across our borders makes more difficult the urgent task of securing the homeland. The system is not working. Our nation needs an immigration system that serves the American economy, and reflects the American Dream."

Bush said reform should not reward lawbreaking by putting immigration violators at the front of the line for residency, but that they could still apply through the same mechanisms available to them now.

Bush's proposal was met with hope from some immigrants but stark opposition from advocacy groups on both sides of the immigration debate.

Among legislators involved in legalization efforts, Democrats were quick to say the proposal falls short of meaningful reform, while Republicans applauded Bush's foray into a policy area he has almost ignored since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

As news of the proposal spread through South Florida's immigrant community, an Argentine construction worker and potential beneficiary, Noemi Palma, wondered if Bush's proposal would lead to any real results, or if his speech was merely a political ploy.

"Of course, 2004 is a very important year for him," said Palma, of Miami. "But if there's something good we can get out of this, it's that the president understands that the immigrants need documents, need family unification, need a status that gives them rights in this country."

Some groups advocating full legalized status said the proposal was a huge disappointment, primarily because it offered no permanent residency. They say immigrants who apply for permanent residency through relatives face backlogs that can stretch 10 years, while other low-skilled workers have no grounds for permanent residency under current rules. All could face deportation when the proposed temporary status is no longer renewed.

"At the end of the day what options lie before people are to leave the country or go back underground," said Angela Kelley, deputy director of the National Immigration Forum. "We've got all these people who are basically going to be a permanent underclass, they're never going to be able to be citizens and participate in a meaningful way, and that's not the kind of nation we want to be."

Although his organization opposes Kelley's stance on legalization, Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies agreed that Bush's proposal effectively would formalize a fixed underclass.

"This would create a second class of American residents, along the lines of Saudi Arabia," he said.

Krikorian added it also "eliminates any borders around the American labor market. It would essentially privatize the arrival of workers, where businesses would be able to decide whether they wanted workers and where they wanted them from," he said. "They would have to go through a symbolic process of looking for American workers, but such things are always fictional."

Some industry groups disagreed and praised Bush for looking to practical solutions.

"We need employees, we cannot get Americans to fill all of these jobs," said Jerry Terry, spokesman for the American Hotel & Lodging Association in Washington.

Those who might benefit from the proposal appeared less likely to take issue with the proposal.

"Of course I would rather have permanent papers, but I'd like to get some sort of legalization worked out one way or the other," said Daniel Andres Miguel, 29, of Lake Worth.

For more than a decade, Miguel, born in Guatemala, has pursued odd jobs as a lawn maintenance worker as he and his wife have raised a family in South Florida.

"When I was denied the work permit, I was told to apply for political asylum. But I never got around to doing it, and now I've been working here 11 years and I have four children. All I know is I have to get my papers in order, and I think this plan would help me do it."

Some who have already achieved residency wonder what Bush's plan might mean for those they left behind in their native land.

"In the case of the Mexicans, I know many of them would come into the country under this plan if they could," said Gabriela Morones Villega, 26, of Boynton Beach.